RealHomes Memberships Setup

Note: This blog post is updated as per RealHomes version 4.2.1, which comes with Stripe SCA compliance.

This article will guide you through the steps to configure memberships for RealHomes-based websites.

  1. Installing Inspiry Memberships Plugin
  2. Basic Settings
  3. Stripe Settings
  4. PayPal Settings
  5. Wire Transfer Settings
  6. WooCommerce Payments Setup
  7. Creating Membership Packages
  8. Memberships View/Subscription
  9. Labels Settings
  10. Styles Settings

Installing Inspiry Memberships Plugin

Navigate to Dashboard Plugins Add New and search Inspiry Memberships as displayed in the screenshot below:

RealHomes Memberships Plugin

Once you have found it, click the Install Now button and activate it after installation.

Let’s start configuring the plugin by navigating to the Dashboard Memberships Settings page. This plugin settings page contains the following four settings tabs.

  1. Basic Settings
  2. Stripe Settings
  3. PayPal Settings
  4. Wire Transfer Settings

Basic Settings

This section allows you to configure the following basic settings:

  1. Enable/Disable Memberships.
  2. Select Payments Gateway Type.
  3. Enable/Disable Recurring Memberships.
  4. Currency Code in which you are going to charge your customers.
  5. Currency Symbol that you want to use.
  6. Position of Currency Symbol.
RealHomes Membership - Basic Settings

Note: if you want to use the WooCommerce Payments Gateway, skip to the WooCommerce Payments Setup guide.

Stripe Settings

This section contains the following Stripe Payment Gateway settings.

  1. Enable/Disable Stripe Payments.
  2. Set your Stripe account API keys.
  3. Set custom Stripe Button Label.
  4. Set the Stripe Webhook URL.
RealHomes Membership - Stripe Settings

Retrieving the API Keys

Log in to your Stripe account dashboard and go to the Developers API keys page to get the Test/Live Publishable and Secret keys.

Register Webhook URL

Important: Webhook URL plays an important role in accepting recurring payments through Stripe. It is important to set the webhook URL correctly otherwise recurring memberships through Stripe will not work.

Follow these steps to register your Webhook URL:

1. Copy the URL present in the Stripe Webhook URL text box.

RealHomes Memberships - Stripe Web Hook URL

2. Go to Stripe account Dashboard Developers Webhooks page and click the Add endpoint button.

4. Paste the Webhook URL you copied earlier in the first step to the Endpoint URL field.

Select the charge.succeeded event from the Events to Send option and hit the Add endpoint button.

PayPal Settings

This section contains the following PayPal Payment gateway settings.

  1. Enable/Disable PayPal Payments.
  2. Enable/Disable PayPal Sandbox Mode.
  3. Set your PayPal account API keys and related credentials.
  4. Set PayPal IPN URL.
RealHomes Membership - PayPal Settings

Retrieving the Client ID & Client Secret

To get a Client ID and Client Secret, you must create a PayPal App via your PayPal developer account. Please follow these easy steps to do that.

1. Login to the PayPal Developer account dashboard.

2. Go to the Apps & Credentials section.

3. Click the Create App button after selecting the Sandbox/Live mode.

PayPal - Create Application

4. Give a name to your App and click the Create App button.

PayPal - Application Details

5. Now, you can see and copy the Client ID and Client Secret to your website’s PayPal settings. You can click the highlighted icon to copy.

PayPal - API Credentials

6. Keep the settings in the Features section as is; you don’t need to change anything.

Configure PayPal IPN

Next is to set up the Webhook URL and Event Types for PayPal IPN notifications.

1. To see the Webhooks section, you must scroll down and click the Add Webhook button.

2. Provide the PayPal IPN URL in the following popup and check the Payments & Payouts from the Event Types functions.

PayPal Sandbox Accounts

PayPal provides Sandbox default accounts to test the PayPal payment features. To retrieve these Business or Personal sandbox test accounts, navigate to Testing & Tools and click Sandbox Accounts in the PayPal Developer Dashboard. In this section, you can get, edit, or create existing and new PayPal Sandbox test Accounts.

PayPal Recurring Payments Setup

The setup for PayPal recurring payments involves the following vital steps. Ensure a smooth process by attentively following each of these steps.

1. To set up Paypal Recurring Payments, please log in to your PayPal Business account, click “Pay and Get Paid“, and click “Subscriptions“.

2. On the “Manage Subscription” page, click on “Subscription Plans” from the left sidebar and click “Create Plan” to initiate the creation of a new subscription plan.

3. Click “Create a Subscription Product” and “Next” to proceed with the process.

4. Fill in all the necessary information based on the updated requirements for your new membership subscription.

PayPal will automatically generate the Product ID; you can include a Product Image, though it is not mandatory. Click the “Next” button to continue creating your subscription plan.

5. Select “Fixed Pricing” before proceeding by clicking on “Next“.

6. Choose your preferred currency and input the price according to your membership plan and specific requirements.

7. Carefully review all the details, and if everything appears satisfactory, click “Turn Plan On” to activate this new PayPal subscription plan.

8. Upon successful creation, copy the “Plan ID” to incorporate it into the Membership package in the next step. Please ensure to copy the entire Plan ID, including e.g. P-9JW765SD3GF.

9. Complete the process by creating a new Membership plan and incorporating the “PayPal Plan ID” into the designated “PayPal Plan Price ID” field. Ensure that the price and duration align with the subscription plan established in PayPal.

Wire Transfer Settings

This section contains the following Wire Transfer settings.

  1. Enable/Disable the Wire Transfer payment gateway.
  2. Set instructions for the Wire Transfer.
  3. Account Name.
  4. Account Number.
RealHomes Membership - Wire Transfer Settings

Add the Wire Transfer details and click on the Save Changes button.

Activating Membership

All the memberships bought through wire transfers require manual activation.

Once the payment confirmation is received, the membership has to be activated manually. Go to the Memberships → Receipts, edit the user receipt, check the Membership Status checkbox, and click the Update button to activate the membership.

WooCommerce Payments Setup

Info: You can use either custom payment methods such as Stripe, PayPal and Wire Transfer OR WooCommerce Payments Gateway.

To set up WooCommerce payments for the membership packages, you must install and activate the WooCommerce and RealHomes WooCommerce Payments Addon plugin on your website.

The WooCommerce plugin can be installed after downloading from its own page. While RealHomes WooCommerce Payments Addon plugin can be installed and activated by navigating to Dashboard > RealHomes > Plugins page. Please see the following screenshot for help.

Once both plugins are installed and activated, go to the Dashboard → Memberships → Settings → Basic page and select WooCommerce for the Payments Gateway Type option.

You can see their WooCommerce payment gateways setup guide by clicking here.

Important: Recurring payments option is available only for the “Custom” Payment Methods because WooCommerce does not support recurring payments.

Creating Membership Packages

To create membership packages, follow these instructions:

Go to Dashboard Memberships New Membership page. Fill in the details related to the membership, then click the Publish button.

Membership package featured image will be used to display with Stripe transaction only.

Note: The price of a membership package can’t be changed after creating the package. If you want to change the price of the package then please create another one.

If you create a recurring membership package through Stripe, you must create a Product and its Pricing Plan in your Stripe account. After that, paste the ID of that pricing plan in the Stripe Product Price ID text field.

To get the Stripe Product Price ID please follow the instructions given below.

Get Stripe Subscription Plan ID

Please login to your Stripe Test/Live account and go to the Products page, then click the + Add Product button.

Provide the product details Product Name, Description, and set an image to show with package payment transaction in the statement.

Scroll down and provide the Product Price Information. Set the Price and Billing Period the same as you did for the package to which you are going to add the Product Price ID.

Now hit the Save Product button and then copy the Price ID.

After copying the Price ID, you need to paste it in the Stripe Product Price ID field of the related package on your website and then click the Update / Publish button, as you can see in the following screenshot.

Memberships View/Subscription

After creating membership packages, they will automatically start appearing on the Memberships page of the User Dashboard.

The users can view, subscribe and cancel their memberships on this page.

Users can easily upgrade or downgrade their membership to meet their specific requirements. During the membership upgrade or downgrade process at the checkout, the membership price will be dynamically adjusted according to the membership duration.

Labels Settings

You can change the Packages, and Thank you page labels and show/hide Payment Methods Badges by navigating to the WordPress Dashboard > Customizer > Dashboard > Membership options panel. A related screenshot is given below.

Styles Settings

The package’s colors can be changed from the Dashboard → Customizer → Dashboard → Styles option panel at the very bottom, as displayed in the following screenshot.

If you follow the above guide properly and still need further assistance regarding any step/section, you can reach our dedicated support team through our support site by clicking here.

Or if you got any feedback about the plugin or its guide improvement you can share it with us via feedback form by clicking here.